Certificate of Good Conduct

Hello,
Is anyone else in the process of applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct from overseas? I'm trying to obtain one from Dubai and the process has been a bit of a living nightmare! I'm still waiting on documentation being attested and sent back to me from the authorities in the UK so that I can then send it on to Dubai. I'm starting the Primary PGDE at Strathclyde in a few weeks so i'm obviously worried about the timescale. I spoke to the uni and I should still be able to go on placement if I can provide references from the UAE, if the certificate hasn't arrived in time. I was just wondering if anyone else is in the same position or if anyone has been through this process and has any advice? I wish it had occurred to me to start this process months ago but I had no idea. A bit naive of me, perhaps!

Hello,
Is anyone else in the process of applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct from overseas? I'm trying to obtain one from Dubai and the process has been a bit of a living nightmare! I'm still waiting on documentation being attested and sent back to me from the authorities in the UK so that I can then send it on to Dubai. I'm starting the Primary PGDE at Strathclyde in a few weeks so i'm obviously worried about the timescale. I spoke to the uni and I should still be able to go on placement if I can provide references from the UAE, if the certificate hasn't arrived in time. I was just wondering if anyone else is in the same position or if anyone has been through this process and has any advice? I wish it had occurred to me to start this process months ago but I had no idea. A bit naive of me, perhaps!

Hi Cet,
I also had to apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct but it was from the Netherlands and it seems as if I had a more straightforward experience as my Certificate was sent out within a few weeks.
I would recommend keeping a log of any email correspondence that you have and ask for receipts where possible. Another thing I found helpful was to call the appropriate department in the country where you need your certificate from directly. When I did this with the Dutch townhall that was dealing with my certificate I found that I was able to scan and email my documents without the hassle of having to post them or take them in person.
If someone else is applying for a certifcate from Dubai, I'm sure they will have more advice for you. Maybe you could google some expat forums and see if anyone has gone through the process before?
You have already started the process and I know it's frustrating but you might just have to wait for other people to complete their part of the deal before you can progress with it. I hope you get your certificate through soon.

I'm waiting for certificates from America as well, and its starting to stress me out! I have applied to both the FBI and also the Florida police department, because I was told the FBI check could take a couple of months to be processed, but the Florida one was much faster. I had a real hassle trying to get finger prints taken to send to them in the first place as well, got pushed from department to department within Strathclyde Police until someone was eventually able to help me. Really hoping it comes in time!

I'm glad i'm not the only one! This process has been a nightmare and an expensive one to boot! I was waiting on a form being translated from English into Arabic and I got that back today so I can hopefully get everything sent to Dubai now. Like you, Glastogirlie, i've been told that this could take up to six weeks to process. I think it's unlikely that my certificate will come in time so I'll need to find out what I need to do about gettingreferences etc. It's been really frustrating. I didn't have a probelm getting fingerprints taken but I had a terrible time trying to get in contact with the Embassy in London. They wouldn't answer the phone and the info on their website was quite vague. I only found out that I needed the application form translated when I went to send off all my attested documents. I wanted to cry! Sounds a bit dramatic but it's horrible when you really need to get something organised and you just can't get it done! Hopefully we'll both be ok! Fingers crossed!

Oh god sounds like a bit of a nightmare!! I know how you feel though, with the hassle I had trying to get the finger prints, every day that passed I was stressing out more and more coz I knew it was important to get it done asap!!

So if we dont have them yet, they will still allow us to start the course, its for the placement start date its needed? when they said references, do they just mean like a reference from your employer over there or something?

Is it Strathclyde that you're going to? I emailed them again yesterday to update them on my progress and to tell them that I probably wouldn't have the certificate in time. As for the references, they said that I would need two from professional people that I worked for. They would have to tell them how long they have known me, how they know me and state that as far as they are aware I do not have a criminal record. They also told me that I don't need to apply for it now because we don't go on placement until the end of September. I have already contacted my referees just to make sure that they're willing to do it and to also give them plenty of notice. It has given me a little peace of mind at least!
Are you on the primary course?